Baby proofing for crawlers/walkers

[BlueWolf]

DD is approaching the age where she's beginning to be mobile. We haven't baby proofed anything yet because there hasn't been a need to. Now there is. Before I run out to the store and buy all the baby proofing items there... what is really necessary and what was a waste of money? We live in a condo so we don't need to worry about stairs.

[nameisrio]

Latches for cupboards containing poisons like under the sink. We put latches on all our kitchen cupboards, just so she wouldn't pull out things I didn't want her to. We still use them and now she's 3! For a short time, I used a gate to keep her out of the kitchen while the oven was on, but she didn't like being separated from me, so she learned pretty quickly to just stay away from it. I got trash cans with lids so she couldn't reach into them. Outlet plugs. Foam door stoppers do the baby can't slam the door on her fingers. A water spout cover for the bathtub so she didn't bump her head. I used twist ties to tie up loose cords. I also got rid of a lot of useless knickknacks that she might break. That's about all we needed. I would shut doors to rooms I didn't want her in. Never used the baby-proof doorknobs b/c by the time she was tall enough to reach up and open the doors, she knew better than to mess with whatever was inside.

[blumooned]

We're also at this phase - anybody have advice about houseplants?

[Carhootel]

my advice would be to watch what she gets into before you buy stuff, I only say that because I bought some stuff that I've never even opened (toilet seat lock, fridge lock, etc...) and then don't have some things that I wish I had (like covers for the coffee table corners).

Honestly we just moved and have been in our new location for about a month now and I haven't done any babyproofing here yet and I don't think I'll need to do much, just socket covers and cabinet locks on a few cabinets (we got rid of the coffee table and put the ottoman in front of the fire place)

My advice for houseplants is to put them up out of the way, we have ours ontop of bookshelves and the entertainment cabinet now and it looks really nice. Now if I could only remember to water them when they're up there

[BlueWolf]

Luckily, I don't have to worry about houseplants. I have this amazing ability that kills every one that steps through my door. Who knew plants need water?

[YayJennie]

Originally Posted by blumooned

We're also at this phase - anybody have advice about houseplants?

We had a terrible time with ours, because we don't have a lot of furniture that I could put the plants out of reach and he seemed to get them no matter where I put them. I finally was able to make a place between our couch and the wall. The plant is on a crate and in front of the crate is a box (just a cardboard box that xmas presents came in) that is Wyatt's favorite toy. I put his toys on top of the box and he can sit and play by the plant and look at it, but not touch it. Works perfect for now. The rest of our plants we had to give away, because we don't have extra rooms or space they could go

As far as other stuff...outlet covers definitely. We even have one of the cases that goes over outlets that have stuff plugged into them, because one outlet is within his reach and he constantly wants to unplug the lamp that is plugged in there and there's no where else to move it. They're expensive but worth it. We have a gate that keeps him from getting into the kitchen, and one on the stairs. All deadly chemicals I put up high out of reach because I don't trust those cabinet locks. That's pretty much it here. We rearranged everything so there's no cords he can get to, and my husband had to move all his stuff back on his desk because his desk is in the living room and baby was pulling everything off. But besides gates and outlet covers, we didn't spend any money on safety stuff. We have a pretty baby proofed, large living room with all his toys in it, and that's the only place I leave him unsupervised for even a second. We also have a small house though, so maybe it would be different in a larger house.